


Takes a Village

by lemontoffee



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family, Fluff, Gen, Parenthood, family au, pretty much Sunny has like 7 caretakers and so much love, this is... very self indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2019-11-24 11:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18164555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemontoffee/pseuds/lemontoffee
Summary: Modern AU, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies (except Huey), Family AUThey say it takes a village to raise a child. Snapshots of Sunny's life, growing up with her huge extended family.





	1. 1

When Olga had called Dave at 1 AM completely out of nowhere, he wasn’t expecting to have a baby in his arms less than a week later. 

“My maternity leave is almost up,” she had said. “They want me back on duty as soon as possible.” 

“Huh? Your maternity leave?” David shot up in his bed, definitely waking up the light sleeper next to him. “Olga, you have a baby?” 

“I don’t have anyone to take care of her, Snake,” Olga continued. “I thought my father could, but...” 

“But what?” David pressed. 

“He passed a few months ago,” Olga answered quietly. 

There were a few seconds of silence. The weight of the situation hung heavy in the silent bedroom. 

“Dave?” Hal sat up and placed a hand on David’s arm. “What’s up?” 

“She needs someone to take care of her. She’s only five weeks old,” Olga spoke as the phone crackled again. 

Dave sucked in a harsh breath. “The maternity leave is that short?” 

“Yes. Unfortunately,” Olga sighed. 

“Olga, I don’t know...” Dave looked over to Hal, who was waiting patiently, and gave him a pained smile. 

“I have some vacation days saved up, so can give you a few more days to decide,” Olga continued. “You’re the last person who can take her besides the foster care system, and I don’t know if I could handle her being with complete strangers.” 

“I’ll have to talk to Hal.” Dave put his head in his hand, massaging his forehead tiredly. 

“Hal?” Olga asked. “Wait. You don’t mean  _ that  _ Hal, right?” 

“Yes. I got married to that nerdy guy I always went on about.” Dave smiled as Hal swatted at his arm. 

“The one you met at the library?” Olga barked out a loud laugh. “I wouldn't take you for the romantic type, Snake!” 

“It’s been way too long since we’ve gotten drinks together, Olga.” 

“With the pregnancy and all, it’s been a little hard to see friends.” 

“I understand.” 

“Snake?” 

“Yes?” 

“Just think about it. Please.” 

“I will. Why don’t you come over sometime this week for dinner? You should meet Hal. And of course, Jack would be happy to see you.” 

“That kid’s never been happy in his life!” Olga laughed again. Somewhere far away, Dave could hear a baby start to scream. “Oh damn, woke Sunny up. Sorry, Dave, I’ll have to talk more later.” 

“Of course. See you later this week.” 

“Fine, if you insist.” The line clicked, and he set the phone down unsteadily. 

“What was that all about?” Hal asked. 

“My old military friend needs someone to watch her daughter.” 

“Well, that shouldn’t be so bad! For how long?” 

“Indefinitely? Until she retires from the military or somehow finds someone else to take care of her.” 

“Oh. That’s, uh, I mean... I thought you meant babysitting.” 

“I mean, in a way it is.” 

“Babysitting hard mode.” 

“Please. I’m begging you. Shut the fuck up,” Dave said, though he was smiling at the awful ‘joke’. 

On Friday of that week, Hal got the evening off, Jack was dragged home and into a dining room chair, and Dave had ordered (fancy) take out. There was a knock on the door, and everyone visibly tensed. 

Dave was the first to see her, and she was the tiniest baby he had ever seen. 

She looked just like her mother, even surprisingly so. Tufts of gray hair were slowly growing in. Her face was halfway buried into her mother’s jacket, but Dave could see the similarities there too. 

Finally, David looked back up to Olga. She was the same work friend he had last seen a little over two years ago, but Christ, she looked tired. 

There was pride in those eyes, though. 

“This is Sunny.” 

Jack was right behind Dave, looking around his shoulders to see the baby. 

“Jack! How have you been?” Olga smiled bright at the sight of him. 

The two had always had some sort of silent connection. Maybe it was because they were two young people caught up in the military they resented. Whatever it was, as close as Dave was to Olga, he had never been as close as Jack was. 

“Been okay, Olga.” Jack smiled, a rare sight. 

“He still bothering you?” 

“He doesn’t know I’m living here with Dave.” 

“Good. He’s still a major general, you know? Even after all the controversy came to light.” Olga frowned. 

Jack averted his eyes. “Let’s...talk about this later.” 

“Oh yeah, of course.” Olga turned back to Dave. “Snake! I need to see this husband of yours!” 

Hal finally walked around the corner to the apartment’s front door. “That’s me.” 

Olga grinned and nudged Dave aside to look more closely at Hal.  

“I’ve heard so much about you! So many drunken nights of pining from this idiot over here.” She started to gesture with her hands but, realizing she was holding a child, simply jerked her chin in Dave’s direction. 

“Oh, you’ll have to tell me more about that,” Hal had a mischievous tone in his voice. “Dave’s been holding back his romantic side lately.” 

“I have not.” David grumbled. 

“I keep saying I can’t see him as the romantic type,” Olga grinned as she elbowed David. “How does he show his love? Grunting?” In that moment, Sunny woke up. 

Everyone held their breaths, expecting the infant to scream, but after a few moments, Sunny just gurgled and looked at the other people in the room. 

“She’s so cute...” Hal spoke in a hushed voice as she looked him right in the face. 

“Would you like to hold her?” Olga adjusted her grip on the baby absentmindedly. 

Hal nodded and soon Sunny was securely in his arms, gurgling and whining a bit, but not screaming or crying yet.  

“Hey, Sunny.” Hal smiled gently and held a hand up for Sunny to hold onto. She squeezed his finger and attempted to put it in her mouth. 

Dave knew this was trouble. He could possibly resist Olga’s request alone, but if Hal fell in love with the tiny girl, he could plan to go ahead and order a crib. 

A week later, Dave, Hal, and Jack found themselves sitting in their living room with a baby in Jack’s lap, a large box of formula, a half-constructed crib, and no idea what to do next. 

“When do we start teaching her stuff?” Jack asked. “Do we need to go ahead and start teaching her colors and numbers and shit?” 

“No cursing.” Hal frowned as he flipped through the baby book Emma had gifted him. Though their relationship was still a bit strained, she was absolutely thrilled to be a cool aunt to little Sunny and promised to visit as soon as fall break rolled around. “Says here she won’t start talking until about six months. Right now, we just need to read to her and play with her.” 

David had his laptop open, scrolling through forums and webpages of advice from experienced parents. 

“Jack, how is your sign language?” Dave asked. 

_ BIT WEAK, _ Jack signed as best he could while holding Sunny.  _ WHY? _

“Says here it’s a good skill for babies to learn sign language, hearing or not.” Dave turned the screen for Jack to see. “Would you mind talking to her in sign language from time to time? I’ll do it too.” 

“No problem.” Jack gently ruffled the soft hair on Sunny’s head. “If the kid ever wakes up. She loves to sleep, huh?” 

“She’s been back between here and Olga’s house so much over the last few days. It must’ve tired her out,” Hal explained. 

“Alright, well, which one of us is going to sing to her?” Dave pointed to a line in Hal’s parenting book suggesting singing to your baby. 

“Not me!” The three piped up at the same time. 

“Oh, come on.” Hal crossed his arms. 

“You two can’t tell me you expected  _ me _ to sing,” David grumbled. “Remember how I smoked a pack a day for most of my life?” 

Hal swatted at him. “’Smoked’? You still sneak cigarettes out on the balcony! I see you do it!” 

“No proof.” 

“We are getting you nicotine gum, or something. I know you’re good about keeping it outside, but you really can’t smoke around this baby.” 

Dave was surprised by how serious Hal looked as he said that. 

“Alright. I’ll grab some when I go to get Sunny’s diapers.” He would’ve never gone cold turkey before now, but maybe something about having a baby... 

At that moment, David realized he really cared for the gurgling, whining, screaming mess in Jack’s arms. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raiden and Emma quality bonding time.

An entire month flew by in a blur. Baby clothes laid scattered across the apartment, the fridge was stocked full of milk, the cabinet contained several large tins of formula, and the living room still had empty boxes from Sunny’s baby furniture. 

The most surprising discovery of the last month was Sunny’s favoritism. 

For some unknown reason, she absolutely loved Jack. Just being placed in his arms immediately calmed her down enough to sleep, even if she had been crying, and she much preferred her crib in Jack’s room. 

Of course, Jack loved Sunny just as much as she loved him. He signed to her across the room, even though she couldn’t do much more than wave her little arms back. He was also assigned the nightly task of getting her down to sleep and putting her back to sleep if she woke up. He was patient with her, never raising his voice, even when she tugged at his curls or attempted to pull his hearing aids out. Though he would never admit to it, Hal and Dave could swear they heard him singing to her softly when she woke up upset in the early hours of the morning. 

Hal had gotten a call on one early September morning from Emma. She told him that she was driving down from New York to see them and bringing gifts for Sunny. 

“Oh, by the way, David, Jack, E.E.’s coming down later today,” Hal mentioned as he sat down at the little kitchen bar.  

Jack smiled. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen her.” 

“Think she’ll still call you that old nickname?” Dave said as he elbowed Jack with the arm that did not contain a baby and a cup of coffee. 

“God, let’s hope not.” Jack rolled his eyes. “Now, c’mon, man, you’ll spill that and burn her.” He took the coffee out of Dave’s hands, placed it on the counter, then took Sunny and started rocking her on his knee. 

“I can take care of her too, y’know.” Dave shot Jack a dirty look. 

“You’re awfully bad at it.” Jack turned back to Sunny and didn’t say much as Hal handed him a bottle of warm formula milk. 

All arguments died down as the three men sat around sipping coffee and watching Sunny gurgle and babble happily. 

Once Sunny was down for a nap in the living room, Jack took a much-needed walk to the corner store, and Hal and Dave got to be alone for one of the first times that month. 

“Excited to see Emma?” Dave asked, reclining on the couch next to Hal, keeping a careful eye on the baby bouncer Sunny was napping in. 

Hal grunted in response. 

“I take that as complicated?” 

Hal grunted again before leaning his head on David’s shoulder. 

“Does it feel like this all happened too fast?” Hal asked. 

“Yeah. Definitely.” 

“Like we were supposed to  _ plan _ to have a baby. Emma should’ve been coming over to celebrate some sort of baby shower.” 

“I know.” 

“I love Sunny already.” 

“I know.” 

Hal slapped Dave’s leg lightly. 

“Stop being so strong and stoic.” Hal’s tone was joking. “You’re supposed to be my sweet trophy husband.” 

“Oh,  _ I’m _ the trophy husband?” 

“Yeah, obviously.” Hal chuckled. “Don’t forget who has the nice IT job around here.” 

“You’re so mean to me. I never thought you’d change so much after having a baby.” 

“I’m rude now.” Hal grinned into Dave’s shoulder. 

They ended up dozing on the couch for an hour or so. Jack would complain about them being gross, lazy old men, Sunny would wake up screaming for her bottle, and they would barely have enough time to get ready for Emma’s visit, but it was fine. They could stand to take a few pointers from Sunny about naptime.

Emma nearly broke the door down knocking. Hal wanted to remind her that she had a key to the apartment, but decided to keep his mouth shut as she held Sunny. 

“Hal... Hal, she’s so small. Hal, look.” Emma stood next to Hal with Sunny in her arms as he tried to finish up the side dish of asparagus sizzling in a pan. 

“I know, E.E., I’ve seen my baby.” Hal chuckled. He’d have trouble being in a bad mood with Emma so happy.  

Dave looked up from the kitchen bar, almost the way a dog would to a sudden sound, at Hal calling Sunny his baby. Hal could almost see Dave’s ears perking up, but they both stayed silent, Hal smiling at the asparagus, and Dave smiling at a newspaper he was reading.  

Soon, the three were sitting around the dining room table. Sunny was in her baby bouncer in the corner of the room, where she could be seen easily, since the men had forgotten to buy a high chair. 

“So, Raiden,” Jack rolled his eyes at Emma’s nickname, pretending to hate it. “What’s it like not being the baby in the house anymore?” 

Jack scoffed. “You know I have a fiancée, right? I am in a committed,  _ adult _ relationship with another person. I pay rent here.” 

“Alright, alright, just teasing.” Emma giggled. “But honestly, you  _ have _ to tell me more about Sunny. Please.” 

“Caught Hal trying to watch anime with her,” David said in-between bites. “His computer is no longer allowed anywhere near Sunny.” 

“Hal!” Emma gasped and held a horrified face, then giggled. 

“Brainwashing.” Jack frowned and shook his head. “And on a kid that young? Really disgusting, Otacon.” 

“Don’t bring out the Runescape usernames.” Hal shook an accusatory finger at Jack. “I know yours, since you played on my computer while I wasn’t looking.” 

“You’re bluffing.” Jack crossed his arms and turned his nose up in a defensive stance. 

“Alright, x X underscore BladeWolf underscore X x.” Hal pushed his glasses up in a way that practically forced an eye roll out of Dave. 

“Raiden,” Emma turned to Jack. “Tell me it isn't true.” 

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way, Emma.” Jack sighed overdramatically.

“You should’ve just told me,” Emma continued with the act.

Something about the conversation struck a nerve with Jack, however; he quietly blinked a few times, staring at the floor. “...Okay, okay, enough.”

He was clearly trying to keep his tone light, but Emma still shot a worried look that asked  _ “Did I do something wrong?” _ to Hal and Dave.

“...Oh, I totally forgot to mention it, but I brought some gifts for Sunny!” Emma stood up, changing the subject, and hurried to her bag resting near the door. “Bit cliché but I’m sure she’ll love them.”

She presented a footed onesie with a smiling sun on it, a shirt and pants set with a white and yellow polka dot design, and a set of clips and bows.

“I’m starting to realize how much yellow clothing she owns,” Jack murmured.

“Burdened by her name.” Dave shook his head solemnly.

“Yeah, I had thought of that on the way over, but I had already bought the stuff.” Emma sighed.

“We appreciate them, though.” Hal smiled. “I mean, Dave only has one jacket and one pair of pants to call his formal wear, and Jack wears basketball shorts daily.”

“Hey! One time, you didn’t change out of a sweater for three days! And you own anime merch!” Jack piped up angrily.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t guilty myself,  _ Jack _ , I’m just saying we aren’t the most fashion forward family alive.” Hal attempted to get the conversation back on track.

“I still have the tux from our wedding,” Dave pouted. “That’s  _ two  _ pairs of formal wear.”

“No, the wedding tux doesn’t count, because you wouldn’t just wear that out!” Hal argued.

A few beats of silence passed.

“Dave, when was the last time you wore your tux?” Hal almost regretted asking.

“There was a party Meryl invited me to. Big honor for her. She was winning an award.”

“David, please. Don’t do this to me.”

“I wanted to look nicer than my sports jacket and khakis.” Dave was downright sheepish now. “So, yes, I may have worn the suit. Only once besides our wedding though.”

“ _ Dave. _ ” Hal held his head in his hands. “What if you had spilled something on it?”

“We’d still be married, Hal, even if that suit was up in flames.”

“I know, but  _ still. _ The sentimental value.”

Jack and Emma sat rigidly watching the two bicker.

Jack leaned over and whispered to Emma, “You wanna retreat?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Emma nodded.

They ended up taking a walk towards the corner store.

“They’re usually at those stupid arguments for a while,” Jack said. “Weirdest thing is that they never argue about the things that  _ actually matter. _ ”

“That’s how everyone is.” Emma shrugged. “I dated this girl, and every day we’d argue about characters in a show we watched, but we never even talked about her habit to detach and ignore me. You just argue about small things as placeholders.”

“I never knew you were…” Jack pondered over the right word.

“You can say lesbian,” Emma giggled. “And yeah, I am. Runs in the family, I guess.”

Jack gave her a questioning look.

“Well, besides Hal, obviously, there’s also my stepmother. Did you know I’m living with Hal’s mother now?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Well, I live with her and her wife,” Emma explained.

“...So why haven’t we gotten a visit from Hal’s own mother? This is her grandchild, after all. Well, I mean, godgrandchild? I don’t think that’s a word.”

“I know what you mean. Hal and his mother…have a complicated relationship.” Emma looked down at her feet. “They really love each other, no question. Strangelove is so proud of him. It’s just that… Well…”

“You don’t have to tell me.” Jack attempted comfort by stiffly patting Emma’s shoulder.

“No, I want to, it’s just not really my place,” Emma continued. “How much has Hal told you?”

“Practically nothing. I know his father passed, but I didn’t know anything about his mother until now.”

“Oh, Christ, that really is nothing.” Emma kicked a stone on the sidewalk, hard. “Okay, let’s just say, some big stuff happened, Hal’s father died, my mother ended up in jail, and we went to live with Hal’s mother and her wife. The problem was that Hal sort of resented his mother for not being in his life more. She didn’t  _ abandon _ him or anything, but a lot of stuff had happened, and I think Hal wished she had been around to protect him more.”

“That… sucks,” Jack frowned.

“They talk on the phone pretty regularly, but I think ever since Hal left home, he’s been finding any reason he can not to visit us.”

“I’m sorry, Emma.”

“Not your fault. It’s not anyon-- Well, it’s  _ someone’s _ fault, but she’s in jail.”

They walked in silence until they reached the corner store.

“Alright, what flavor slushie do you want?” Jack grinned and lightly elbowed Emma.

“Blue,” Emma replied, already shoveling cans of Pringles into her arms.

“That’s not a flavor.” Jack crossed his arms.

“Yes, it is. They always have blue.” Emma turned back to Jack. “Also, stop cocking your hip out like that. You look like you’re on the cover of a bad fashion magazine about maximising cake.”

“You lost me,” Jack said, but stood up straight nonetheless.

“Doesn’t matter. Get me some blue.” Emma stuck out her tongue.

“Are you two siblings?” The cashier asked as she rang up all of Emma’s chips.

“No, do we look alike?” Jack asked.

“No, not at all actually!” The cashier laughed a bit. “You two just act exactly like my brother and I do.”

“I’m actually his aunt!” Emma grinned.

“Technically.” Jack frowned. He had never been a huge fan of this fact.

“Huh. Wouldn’t have guessed,” The cashier said. “Anyways, your total comes to $21.69.”

“ _ Nice. _ ” Emma whispered as Jack pulled a few bills out of his wallet.

“These chips better last you the rest of your life,” he grumbled. “And I get some. Don’t hoard ‘em.”

The walk home was quiet. It was almost as if as soon as they left the bright lights and soft music of the corner store, all their problems came back to weigh on the conversation.

“Do you think Hal is happy?” Emma asked. “He never talks to me anymore.”

“Yes. I really do, Emma.” Jack answered.

“Okay. I’ll have to take your word for it.”


	3. Chapter 3

Sunny was nearly two years old when she muttered her first word.

Since she was about seven months old, she managed simple signs, being able to ask for food or bend her fingers well enough to say “I love you”. (David nearly cried when she signed  _ I LOVE YOU _ back to him for the first time a few days after her first birthday.)

Of course, Hal and Dave talked often about how slow her speech development was. They worried, called her doctor several times, and read as many articles on slow speech development as they could. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much they could do besides wait for those first words.

Hal had been holding her when she finally got out “dada”.

“David! Jack!” Hal yelled across the apartment. “She spoke!”

The two scrambled into the living room and gathered around, hoping to hear her say it again.

“What does her voice sound like?” Jack asked.

“Same as her babbling,” Hal replied. “Am I dada?”

“I mean, we’re all kinda dada, huh?” Dave replied.

“You can be Pops or something,” Hal said. “I want to be Dad.”

“Hell no. Pops?” Dave grunted. “No way is that kid calling me Pops.”

“It doesn’t really matter.” Jack rolled his eyes.  _ I LOVE YOU, SUNNY, _ he signed.

Sunny’s sign name was almost identical to the ASL sign for ‘sunny’, with the sign for S added in. It was easy for her to learn, since it could be simplified to shaking her fist near her head, and she had started to recognise it as her name.

_ I LOVE YOU _ , Sunny signed back. She then continued to sign  _ “SUNNY” _ over and over, almost like she was testing it out.

Sunny’s first steps had actually come before her first word, and she was quite enjoying waddling around the house, tugging at pant legs for support and attention. When she was ready for a nap, she would bang her little hands on Jack’s bedroom door, even though she had her own room she slept in now.

Even though the men tried to keep her play pens stocked with toys that would entertain her, but she seemed to figure out most of the little puzzles after only a few tries.

“Is she smart or are we just buying the wrong toys?” Dave asked as he was taking apart yet another solved puzzle, much to Sunny’s displeasure.

Hal just shook his head. “Don’t know. Should we take back the no technology rule?”

“No,” Dave grunted and patted Sunny’s head as walked over to the couch where Hal was sitting. “She’s too young to stare at screens.”

“But, Dave, there are so many good apps for toddlers. Hell, I could probably make one given a few months,” Hal said. “It could be really good for her.”

“I vote no,” Dave crossed his arms, “but if we don’t agree, we should leave it up to Olga.”

“Will you give her a call tonight then?” Hal stood in front of Dave.

“Yeah.”

“Thank you,” Hal said and kissed Dave on the cheek. “You got dinner tonight?”

“I thought it was your day.” Dave smiled.

“It’s Wednesday, right?” 

“No. Thursday.” 

“Oh, then it’s Jack’s day, actually.”

“Is he still in his room?” Dave checked his watch. “Usually he would’ve come out by now.”

“Should we check on him?”

“I think something’s happening with the missus,” Dave grumbled.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. Just asked the other day how she was, and I got nothin’ back. Just brooding.”

They walked to Jack’s room together. Hal gave Dave a little smile before knocking on Jack’s door.

There was no answer.

“Should we go in?” Hal asked quietly.

“He’s a grown man, Hal,” Dave responded. “If he doesn’t want to respond, we can’t make him.”

“I know, but…” Hal wrung his hands together.

“How about we check again once dinner is ready?” Dave asked.

“Sure. But if he doesn’t answer then, I’m going in.”

Hal and Dave ended up cooking together, trading kisses and ingredients as they shuffled around the small kitchen to Hal’s vocaloid playlist. Sunny would run into the kitchen seeking attention, and the two would take turns taking her back to living room. While Dave usually didn’t treat Sunny like glass, Hal and Jack had the tendency to keep a constant eye on her and any dangers that could be in the room. She had a need to explore, which had almost lead to injury when she pulled the silverware drawer out far enough that it clattered to the ground and sent forks, spoons, and  _ knives _ flying. Luckily, mostly butter knives were kept in that drawer, and the big and sharp knives were kept in a knife holder on the counter out of Sunny’s reach, but she had still scared herself with all the comotion. It took at least an hour or two to calm her down.

With dinner done, Jack still wasn’t out of his room, and Hal was worried again. Dave noticed.

“I’ll go check on him,” Dave said to calm his husband’s nerves.

Dave knocked on Jack’s door with no answer. No answer, of course.

“Jack, you’re scaring the shit outta Hal,” Dave raised his voice a bit. “Let us know you’re okay.”

No answer. Well, the door wasn’t locked, so that was a good sign.

Dave entered slowly. A quick movement of covers told him that Jack was trying to get away with pretending to be sleeping.

“Hey, uh, Jack?” Dave walked around the bed to where Jack was laying. “We made lasagna. It’s got cabbage in it instead of lasagna noodles, y’know, ‘cause it’s better for Sunny, but it isn’t half bad.”

It was silent for a moment.

“I know you’re awake,” Dave continued.

Jack cracked an eye open.

“Fine. I’ll be out in a minute,” he croaked. His voice was absolutely shot in a way that gave away that he had been crying.

“Something wrong, kid?” Dave sat down at the end of the bed.

“Go away,” Jack hissed.

“I’m trying to be nice here.”

Jack kicked him hard.

“I don’t know if you’ve just been reading too many parenting books, but you are  _ not _ my dad, and I am not your moody teen son.” Jack kicked again while burying himself deeper in his comforter. “So fuck  _ off _ .”

Dave wanted to kick right back, but he decided that Sunny probably didn’t need to accidentally walk in on her two caretakers in a fist fight.

After a deep breath, he stood up and walked out into the hallway, where Hal and Sunny waited.

_ JACK?  _  Sunny tugged Dave’s pant leg and signed.

“One second, Sunny,” Dave peaked his head back in Jack’s room. “Is it okay if Sunny comes in?”

After a few long seconds, Dave assumed that was a “no” and went to close the door.

“Yeah,” Jack spoke up.

Sunny waddled in and stood next to the bed, looking up at Jack with big eyes. She placed her hand on his and laid her head on the bed next to their hands. Jack turned his head into his pillow to try and prevent himself from shedding (more) tears.

Later, that night, after Sunny had been put to bed, Jack finally emerged from his room. He made eye contact with Hal and flicked his head over to the bathroom door.

“Gonna take a shower,” he explained needlessly.

Hal nodded.

“I can warm you up some dinner when you get out. If you want,” Hal said, just before Jack turned the doorknob.

Jack nodded, but kept his head lowered, averting his gaze.

When Jack opened the door to the hallway, he looked down the narrow passage to see Dave reading something on his laptop and Hal trying not to doze off while he watched TV.

They were close on the middle of the small couch. If Jack had wanted to sit down (which he  _ didn’t _ ), they would have to scoot over, and even then, it would be a tight fit. Sunny could easily sit next to one of her godfathers or on one of their laps if she wasn’t already asleep in her little race car bed. All the furniture in her room was too small, too weak, being made of plastic. One of her little plastic chairs was already in pieces after Dave had attempted to fit himself in it.

There was no room on the couch, and he would only break Sunny’s furniture if he wanted to have tea parties with her.

If Jack had been reading it in a trashy novel, he would’ve laughed at such a cheap metaphor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter part!


	4. Chapter 4

Dave and Hal had respected Jack’s decision to move out, of course. They had offered to help him pack and asked questions about his new place. They avoided the question of  _ why. _

Of course, Sunny was barely two years old, and toddlers don’t always have the most social grace. Unlike her godfathers, Sunny cried, asked “ _ Why? Why? Why? _ ”, and certainly did not offer to help Jack move.

She pouted, and she pouted  _ hard. _ She would scrunch her face up into a little scowl and cross her arms whenever Jack entered the room. When he signed to her, she kept her arms firmly against her chest and turned her head away so that she couldn’t see what he was signing.

Once she reeled her little leg back and kicked Jack’s ankle with all her might. When he looked down at her, she asked him again, “Why?”

How could he tell her?

How could he explain to a toddler the events of the past few months? She was a smart girl, but not  _ that _ smart.

Jack’s walks to the corner store became more frequent. Sometimes, he would sit on the bench near it, drinking a slushie, avoiding going home.

Rose and he had problems, to say the least. Most of it had fallen apart during a fight, and Jack bitterly thought about how weak their relationship had to have been to not be able to survive  _ just one _ fight.

The night had started off sweet. They had dinner in Rose’s apartment and started chatting over the lasagna she had made.

“Do you remember when we met?” Rose twirled cheap wine around in her even cheaper wine glass. 

“Yeah,” Jack smiled a bit. “I was on one of my walks to the Capitol Building.”

“God, you looked so  _ sad, _ ” Rose recounted. “You know, there was that great coffee place nearby, and I’d see you almost every time I went. In the  _ middle of the day _ . I wondered if you had a job.”

“I mean, I didn’t,” Jack responded. “Why did you end up talking to me in the first place?”

Rose frowned and poked at her square of lasagna. 

“Okay, don’t get mad at me, Jack,” she sighed.

“Well, now you have to tell me,” Jack leaned in a little.

“It was a dare. Some of my co-workers and I always thought you were, you know, kinda weird. You always just stared off into space or sat, like you were waiting for someone. I think you even  _ cried _ one time. It kinda creeped us out,” she sighed. “But! You were cute, and I got twenty dollars to ask you out on a date. I mean, it was good luck, wasn’t it? Since I got to meet you.”

Rose reached across the little table to lay her hand on Jack’s with a little smile on her face.

And Jack should’ve let it go. He really should’ve. Maybe he would’ve been moving in with Rose if he had just  _ let it go. _

“...Wait. Our first date was a joke?” Jack asked.

“Well, I ended up really liking you! But yeah, I guess so.”

“That doesn’t bother you at all?” Jack pulled his hand out from under Rose’s, a sinking feeling in his chest.

“It was kinda mean, sure! But I thought it’d be a funny story to look back on, now that we’re engaged,” Rose responded. “You can’t deny you were sort of creepy, can you?”

“You don’t know what I was going through, Rose!” Jack tried not to raise his voice.

“Well, it’s not like I knew then. I don’t even know now! You don’t talk to me.”

Now they were both standing, dinner forgotten.

“It’s sort of hard to talk to you when you make fun of me like this!”

“I don’t make fun of you! I’ve never made fun of you!”

“You just did! You did with your coworkers too!” Jack slammed a hand down on the table, shaking the silverware and nearly knocking his and Rose’s wine glasses over. “What do they think of you being  _ engaged _ to me, huh?”

“They think it’s funny! They didn’t expect it to go past a first date! And, in fact, neither did I!” 

They stared each other down for a moment, but Jack’s gaze faltered first as he went to kick the wall’s baseboards as hard as he could. It was a long few seconds before anyone spoke again.

“I didn’t mean that,” Rose said in a small voice.

“You did,” Jack responded, his voice much louder.

“I just said it because I knew it would hurt.”

“But it makes sense, doesn’t it? You probably prepared to block my number as soon as you got the money from your stupid bet.”

“But I didn’t!”

“That doesn’t matter, Rose!”

“It does!”

“No, it just-! Ugh!” Jack kicked the baseboards again, but it was not nearly as satisfying as the first time.

“Stop hitting stuff, Jack,” Rose growled. “This is  _ my  _ apartment, and I’m getting my damn security deposit back.”

Jack’s immediate response, of course, was to kick the chair he had been sitting in minutes ago. It skittered back against the linoleum floor and fell over.

“If you want me to understand you, you have to talk to me! For once!” Rose yelled.

“You want to know about me so badly?” Jack muttered darkly. “I would bet money that you don’t.” 

“Well, how would I know? I don’t have even the slightest idea of your life before twenty-something.”

“I  _ killed _ people, Rose.”

It felt as if all the air had left the room. Suddenly, it was far too hot, and Jack could feel his palms sweating.

“...W-what?” Rose stared at Jack with wide eyes, but he refused to look back.

“George Sears, Major General in the U.S. army, famous for his raid in Liberia.” Jack’s voice was low, calm. “But for a long time, no one knew about his special group of POWs. A group of kids.”

“Jack, what are you talking about?” Rose’s voice was pleading now, confused beyond belief.

“He was something of a father to the boys in the group. He trained us to kill. Turned us into child soldiers.”

“‘Us’? Jack, what do you mean  _ ‘us’ _ ?” Rose was reaching out to him now, her hands hoving near his front, not knowing where they should settle.

“I was really young, six, I think, when he... When he killed my parents and took me to fight in his war. The other kids were even younger.” Jack’s voice cracked, and for a moment, his nearly robotic monotone wavered. “They showed us violent movies, to desensitize us to killing. ‘Image training’, he called it. I mean, kids believe what they see on TV, right? I don’t think we even questioned it. I… killed for the first time that year, and by the time I turned ten I was the captain of the unit.”

“I… God, that’s horrible…”

“They fed us once a day. Mixed gunpowder and toluene into our meals, to drug us, keep us complacent...”

“Oh my god.” Rose let out a sob. “Jack… Jack, stop...”

“My real name isn’t even Jack! That’s the name he gave me! I don’t know  _ my _ name, I don’t know my  _ parents' _ names! But, him. He tried to pretend he was my father sometimes. I was his favorite, Rose. I was the best killer, Jack the Ripper.” Tears welled up in his eyes, but Jack kept his head firmly pointed towards the floor and his fists at his sides. “After he was done with us, he took me back to his home in America. I wasn’t even a teenager.”

“You  _ lived _ with him, after all that?”

“It’s not like I had a choice!” Jack threw his head up to finally look Rose in the face. His eyes were wild and wet with tears.

“No, I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, J — ” She cut herself off.

“Eventually, the news got out. Someone who had worked with him felt guilty and leaked it all to the press. It was a huge deal. Reporters gathered outside his house for weeks. He had been running for president at the time. It was  _ huge. _ And then, it wasn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“People lost interest. He didn’t get elected that term, but after the next one, he was the president of the United States.”

“That’s insane! How could that happen?”

“Do you remember it at all?”

“No, but—.”

“There. People lose interest, don’t pay attention.”

There was a long silence, but Jack had more to say, and he was damn well going to say it now, while he had the strength.

“Have I said anything about Olga? She’s Sunny’s mother.” Rose nodded in understanding. She had heard Jack talk about Sunny frequently and knew vaguely about the girl’s mother. “She was all wrapped up in the mess. After the crimes came out, she and her team had been assigned to raid my house and take him into custody.”

Jack took a deep breath.

“She found me, hiding in a broom closet when I was about sixteen. She pitied me a bit, I think. She took off her helmet and holstered her gun, and she helped me up since my legs were cramped in the closet. She escorted me out of the house and made sure none of the team pushed me around or interrogated me.”

“She sounds like a nice woman.” Rose smiled a bit.

“She is. She found out that Sears had a brother who was willing to take me until I graduated. That was Dave.” Jack turned his head away again. “He doesn’t even know I’ve been living with Dave for so long. I bet he would never guess it.”

“Jack, this is  _ good. _ You have a happy ending.”

“Living with Dave and Hal doesn’t take the nightmares or the memories away, Rose. I still have to think about it, all the time.”

“I think you should see a therapist.”

“I did for a while.”

“Did it help?”

“Sure, I guess.” He scowled. “Are you just giving up on me now?”

“I can’t fix this, Jack.”

“I don’t need to be  _ fixed _ ,” Jack nearly snarled. “You’d like that though, wouldn’t you? A nice, not-traumatized fiancé to show your coworkers?”

“Don’t bring up that again.” Rose rolled her eyes.

“How can I not? You just told me that you asked me out on a bet because you thought me being traumatized was  _ weird  _ and  _ funny _ , and then guilted me into sharing my life story with you, because somehow that was  _ my  _ fault.”

“That’s not what I was doing! I didn't guilt you!”

“Sure as hell seems like it!”

More angry silence permeating the room.

“Look, maybe you should leave.” Rose sighed. “We can talk more later, okay?”

“Fine. I get it.”

Then, Jack grabbed his keys from the little glass bowl near the door and stomped out.

For a few days, they didn’t talk. Their only communication had been Rose requesting ten dollars through PayPal with the note attached “to clean my baseboards”.

Then, they talked again through text, which had sucked, because neither of them were particularly  _ good _ at texting. They always fought when they tried to have a conversation through messages, because misunderstandings were easier, and Jack wasn’t very good at expressing himself in the first place.

“ _ You left your jacket at my place _ ,” Rose had texted. “ _ Want me to drop it off? _ ”

Of course, such an innocent start soon turned into a fight, which turned into a dreaded, “ _ I think we should take a break _ .” text.

Jack had stared at that text for at least a few minutes, not responding, just processing. Rose was his first girlfriend, his first fianc é e, his first love. 

A moment later, his phone buzzed, and Jack realized Rose was  _ calling. _ Knocked out of his trance, he nearly dropped the phone into his lap before hitting the confirm button.

“Hello?” Rose spoke first.

“Hey,” Jack replied.

There was a bit of silence. Then, Rose sighed loudly.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry, Rose, about the other night.” Jack tried to keep his voice firm, but of course, it wavered with every word. “I shouldn’t have yelled. It was a mistake.”

“Jack…” Rose sighed.

“I want to make it up to you. I can fix this.”

“Jack, no. What I said still stands.”

“About talking a…” Jack could barely say it. “About taking a break?”

“No. Well, yes, but I'm talking about you seeing a therapist. I can’t help you. I’m not trained to.”

He knew Rose was trying to be kind. He knew she wasn’t saying he was broken, but it sure  _ felt _ like that.

“Alright. I’ll… I’ll do that,” Jack replied quietly.

“I’m sorry, that all that happened to you, by the way. I don’t know if I made that clear the other night.”

“Thank you.”

“After this passes, maybe we can go grab a coffee or something. I want to keep up with you.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” Jack sat, just hoping for this conversation to be over as soon as possible.

“Alright, well, I gotta go.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Talk to you later.”

“Love you,” Jack said as he went to end the call, immediately feeling his heart drop. It was just habit after all these years to hang up a call with Rose on a quick “I love you”. But now, he was staring at his phone, not knowing whether he should apologize or forget it had ever happened.

He tried not to think too deeply into the fact that Rose didn’t respond with “Love you too”, but she had always been awful about that anyways.   
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Thank you so, so, so much to Etoile for proofreading this and letting me bounce ideas off of them.  
> (http://famicom.tumblr.com)
> 
> If you want to talk to me about Metal Gear Solid, feel free to check out my Tumblr at https://youthful-wind.tumblr.com.


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